Cardiac Device Manufacturing

As treatment to address heart disease become more sophisticated, manufacturing technology is required to keep pace.

From their introduction in the mid 20th century, pacemakers and defibrillators have technologically advanced to become smaller and more efficient, resulting in an increasingly complex manufacturing process.

Lasers – Cutting and Welding

The trend towards miniaturisation with more intricate components means that traditional methods of cutting and welding no longer meet the requirements of manufacturers. As a result, the use of lasers is now widespread for both processes.

Laser cutting using CO2, solid state or fibre lasers allows for the development of highly intricate components with a high cut edge quality. Laser welding allows for the welding of microscopic features with minimal heat affected zones using high quality pure or laser mix gases supplied by BOC.

Leak detection

Requirements to detect leaks are critical in the manufacture of devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators.

Helium remains the best choice of gas for detecting minute leaks in vacuums and other gas tight systems because it:

has a very small atomic size

is non toxic and inert

is non-flammable

is non-condensable

is not normally present in the atmosphere.

As a result, it is easy to detect by a small instrument mass spectrometer tuned to detect helium.

As a member of The Linde Group, BOC is a leading supplier of helium with an unrivalled security of supply, with our operation of one of the world’s largest helium plants and outstanding transfill facility in Thame, Oxfordshire.

Sterilisation

Sterilisation is critical for components used in relation to healthcare and particularly those intended to be implanted in the human body. Pace makers are heat sensitive devices, meaning that they are sterilised using the highly effective Ethylene Oxide.

BOC meets all your needs around the delivery, handling and safe management ethylene oxide. We help our customers to optimise production processes, satisfy regulatory compliance and deliver on their environmental agenda.